Tag Archives: on the street

On the Street: 5th Avenue at 41st Street

fifth ave mural

I was doing some research at the New York Public Library’s main reference branch yesterday, and when I left the library and crossed the street, I spotted this mural. It’s painted on a pair of doors off to the side of the Andaz Fifth Avenue, a hotel that I’d never really noticed before.

The painting is signed by artist Aimee Cavazzi. I looked her up when I got home and learned that she is “artist in residence” at the Andaz. She painted this work just a few weeks ago, and she says,

“I would take the train in the spring time and early summer as a young teenager and felt, just as the picture depicts, inspired, overwhelmed and in awe of the immensity and intensity of the city.”

I know what she means, and I’m glad I still feel the same way in New York sometimes: energized, happily astonished, percolating with ideas, drawing inspiration from my surroundings.

You can see some photos of Cavazzi (and her students!) at work on the mural here.

Image: photo by Tinsel Creation.

On the Street: Fleur-de-Lys Studio, Providence, Rhode Island

providence studio

I was just looking through my photos from our recent trip to Rhode Island, and I came across this quick shot of a building in Providence’s College Hill neighborhood. It’s the historic Fleur-de-Lys Studios at 7 Thomas Street, a Tudor Revival building designed by architects Edmund Willson and Synney Burleigh in 1885. It’s still home to the Providence Art Club, and you can read more about it on the Brown University website.

I liked its relief panels, including this image of a lily, painted in bold red and yellow.

Image: photo by Tinsel Creation.

On the Street: William Carlos Williams, “Poem”

william carlos williams

On the sidewalk of East 41st Street between Park Avenue and Fifth Avenue, otherwise known as “Library Way.”

The rose fades
and is renewed again
by its seed, naturally
but where

save in the poem
shall it go
to suffer no diminution
of its splendor

         – William Carlos Williams

On the Street: Lilly Pulitzer, Madison Avenue, NYC

lilly

The designer Lilly Pulitzer, who was famous for her brightly colored, whimsically patterned mini-dresses and other resort wear, died on April 7th. (You can read her obituary here.)

I walked by the Lilly Pulitzer boutique on Madison Avenue this afternoon; things seemed to be business as usual. I expected some sort of tribute display in the window, perhaps a photo of Mrs. Pulitzer herself with some vintage outfits arranged around it. But the current display, just a row of cheerful shift dresses against a splashy floral backdrop, could have represented any day in the designer’s business from the 1960s through today.

On the other hand, there’s something just right about that.

You can listen to a short National Public Radio story about Lilly Pulitzer and her designs here.

Image: photo by Tinsel Creation, with a little editing help from Picasa.

On the Street: Manhattan Mini Storage’s Esoteric Humor

storage wide view

I hardly ever take a cab, but I was riding in one a few days ago, passing through an area of Manhattan that I rarely visit, and it stopped at a red light in front of a Manhattan Mini Storage location.

Manhattan Mini Storage’s ads often make me laugh, but I’ve never seen this one before. Here’s a close-up:

storage detail

If this warning doesn’t inspire a bout of spring cleaning, I don’t know what will. Only in New York, kids—because you either get it or you don’t.

little edie

S-T-A-U-N-C-H!

Images: Manhattan Mini Storage photos by Tinsel Creation. Little Edie photographed by Tom Wargacki, January 8, 1972, via Gettyimages.